This invention relates generally to the art of refuse containers and more specifically to the art of tailgate securing means for such containers.
A wide variety of refuse containers are known to the art including dump trucks, garbage trucks, sewer and catch basin cleaners, and industrial vaccuum loaders and cleaner. A common feature of such machines is a tailgate which is manually opened or opened by power means to permit discharge of the contents of the container body. Depending on the application, the material which will be contained in the body could be solid, liquid or a mixture.
It is essential that the tailgate be adequately sealed to the opening of the material collection body, e.g. to prevent spilling materials during truck movement. Tight sealing of the tailgate may not be necessary for some uses, but where liquids are to be held in the body or where the collection chamber is a vacuum chamber, tight sealing is required. In many cases, a compressible gasket is employed to insure such a seal.
There are literally dozens of other types of equipment where positive closure of an opening is required. For example, stationary vacuum loaders may have a collection body with a hinged cover to allow access to the body interior.
Several means are known to the art for aiding positive engagement between a tailgate and a truck body opening. For example, Pack in U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,552, describes the use of hooks on a truck body which engage a rim around the tailgate and a system for interlocking the tailgate lifting system with the closure hooks. Other known systems include the use of simple hook fasteners and manually operated cranks for drawing a tailgate into positive engagement with a truck body opening.
All of these systems suffer from one or more drawbacks, especially if they are employed on trucks which are designed to carry liquids or on trucks having a pusher plate or dump system for unloading the body. Often the material discharged from the body will foul the closure mechanism and interfere with proper sealing. Moreover, many prior art devices do not compensate for correct gasket compression and minor shifts in door alignment. A system for positively locking a tailgate or closure to a container opening which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages would be a significant advance in this technology.